Divinity

• 3 c. white sugar
• 2 egg whites, beaten
• 1 c. white corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. water

1. Boil sugar, corn syrup and water together slowly.
2. Wash down crystals from sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.
3. Boil til syrup spins a long thread (12-15") when tested with a spoon (or until 245 degrees)
4. Pour slowly over beaten egg whites
5. Beat until mixture begins to thicken and loses its gloss.  
6. Add vanilla.
7. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Yield: 60 pieces or 2 lbs

Variations: nuts, cut candied cherries, candied pineapple

Toffee

1 lb. butter

3 c. sugar

1 c. roasted almonds

1 lb. dark sweet chocolate

1. Melt butter and add sugar. Boil slowly stirring constantly until it reaches 280 degrees.  (it will be golden brown.)
2. Spread on greased cookie sheet and cool.
3. Shave and melt chocolate in double boiler and allow to cool.
4. Before setting, spread half chocolate on top of toffee and sprinkle roasted almonds on chocolate.
5. Place in fridge to set.
6. After setting, turn over and pour remaining chocolate over top. sprinkle almonds on top.
7. Break into 1 1/2" pieces.

Carrot Cookies

One of Grandma Manning's specialties.... so dainty and fresh.  And hello, there are carrots in these cookies.  Healthy.  .....right?

The Recipe:

• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. butter
• 1 egg
• 1 c. cooked, mashed carrots
• 2 c. flour
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 t. orange extract

1. Cream sugar and butter
2. Add egg and mashed carrot
3. Add sifted dry ingredients.
4. Add vanilla and orange 
5. Drop on greased cookie sheet
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes
7. Frost with your regular powdered sugar frosting (adding a bit of orange flavoring and orange food color for a kick)

Avocado Dip

This is another one from Grandma Manning's cookbook.  She says this is "absolutely the best served with potato chips."  I'm on a veggie chip kick.....like these....

These + Dip = :)

The Recipe:

• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp chopped onion
• 1 tsp salt
• dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 c. mashed avocado pulp
• 8 oz. cream cheese

1. Mix lemon juice, onion, salt, and worcestershire
2. Add avocado 
3. Gradually add mixture to softened cream cheese.  mix until well blended.
4. Refrigerate until served

Rye Bread

Rye Bread + Homemade Strawberry Jam = reason to wake up in the morning.

See?  Happy girl. 

I don't even need to preface this recipe, it's that good, and we all know it.  This recipe comes from Grandma Manning.  Here's a picture of her baking it in her sweet little kitchen.

The Recipe

• 1 pkg. yeast, softened in 1/4c water.
• 4 c. warm water
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 2 c. (or more) rye flour
• white flour

1. Mix yeast, water, salt, sugar, and oil.
2. Add 2 c. rye flour (add more if you prefer it darker)
3. Add enough white flour to make a very stiff dough.  (For me it was a little under 8 cups)
4. Let rise in a warm area until almost doubled in size.
5. Shape into round loaves (usually 2 large loaves or 3 smaller).  Let rest 20 minutes.
6. Grease and flour your pans. (this is the cutest part of the recipe.  A sauce pan will give you the classic grandma's rye bread shape.)  Flouring the pans makes a unique blotched look on the lower crust like this: 

 Bake for 1 hour at 375.  If it gets too dark, lower temperature to 350.  Experiment!

Noodles

Making noodles has been a tradition in our family for who knows how long. It's quite a process cranking all the dough through....seems like my arm always gets tired so fast and my mom always has to say "keep going, we have to go fast so the dough doesn't dry out!" Great arm workout. And it's a good thing it is because the final product is simply carbs slathered in butter. But really, so so good. I love butter noodles with barbecued chicken. mmmm mmmm mmmm.

On that note, WELCOME, MELANI!

I really appreciate that Mel chose this recipe because we can't have a family cookbook without talking about butter noodles. She's done it with plenty of pictures which will be so helpful. I'll let her take it from here.....

The recipe:

• 6 eggs (jumbo size works best)
  
• 4 Cups flour
  

Mix 6 eggs with a fork in a mixing bowl. (just to break them up) Then add the 4 cups of flour and mix until dough is stiff.

This is what the dough looks like after mixing. If it seems too dry and the flour won't mix in all the way, you can add a tiny bit of water at a time until it is the right texture. I am not an expert at this point, but the dough has turned out a little different every time I have made it. It always tastes the same in the end. :)

Take the dough out of the mixer and form it into a log. I rub a bit of olive oil on my hands before doing this so it doesn't stick.

Cut the log into equal sized slices. I usually get about 16.

Take each slice and put it through the roller. The first time through should be on a lower setting (2) so the dough comes out thick. Take these to dry for just a few minutes on the back of a chair.

I just use a white sheet that I cut up into pieces and lay these on the chair backs. Flip each one over to dry a bit more and then take them back to the noodle maker to roll out thinner.

Move the setting on the noodle maker to a higher number (6) and put the dough back through the roller. They will come out long and thin.

Drape these over the back of the chairs again and let dry. Flip over so both sides can dry evenly. Drying time depends on your house, humidity outside, fans going, etc. You just have to guess the first few times and feel for the dryness. You don't want them too wet, or the noodles will stick together and won't dry well after cutting them.

When dough is ready, stack a few together and cut into chunks. The length of the chunks will be the length of the noodles. I usually cut mine about 3 - 4 inches long.

Attach the noodle cutter and put each chunk in to cut into noodles. Set a sheetcake pan under to catch them. I fill up the pan and take them to dry. Then come back and finish off the rest of the dough.

This is another white sheet that I lay on the bed to let the noodles dry on. Just sprinkle the noodles around and separate the clumps so they can dry.  I have learned to lock my door when they are drying or all your hard work may be almost gone when you go in to see if they are dry. (My kids love them!!! And they love to help make them!!!)


The finished German Buttered Noodles! These are so yummy as a side, with sauce on them, or in soups. They can be used for anything you would use pasta for. Put dry noodles (wet works too, if you want them right away) into boiling water and cook until soft. Just melt some butter and dump it on the cooked noodles. The whole process takes about 1 1/2 hours, depending on drying time. It gets easier the more you make it. And some of these steps might not be absolutely necessary, but that is how I was taught by my mom and grandma. (Kelsey's grandma and great grandma) And sometimes you just do things because that's how you are "supposed" to do them.

This could possibly be the longest blog entry ever, but I wanted to throw in a little history. Kelsey had mentioned using the hand cranking method, which is what we did until just a few years ago. KitchenAid has made our lives much easier and our arms much flabbier! The noodle making attachments to the mixer are wonderful and cut the process time down a bit.

 Old

Older

Before the hand cranking method, Kelsey's great great grandma used a noodle cutting board. Her name is Amalie Mai. She would roll the dough out in a circle, roll the circle up (like a fruit roll-up), place it on the board and slice it into tiny, perfect noodles. That would be fun to try sometime, but I'll stick to the KitchenAid for now.

I love making these because they seem so rustic and historic to me. These noodles really are a part of our heritage and I hope I did this recipe justice. Thanks for letting me be a part of the Family TREEts!

Berok

Aunt Mel told me about this one. I guess Grandma used to make it and Great-Grandma made it before her. For some reason, every time I make something with cabbage I think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- they had cabbage soup for dinner every night. So to be honest, I'm trying to imagine my family eating it years ago, but all I can think up are scenes from the movie.........

The Recipe:

• 4 c. cabbage
• 2 lbs. hamburger
• 2 yellow onions
• 36 rhodes rolls

The directions are just too easy! First set out your rolls to thaw. Put the cabbage and onions in a frying pan, let them cook together for a few minutes. Then add your (already cooked) hamburger and let the flavors cook together for a bit. I love the green color from the cabbage. Note: this step can be stinky. May bother your husband's upper lip syndrome. Flatten out your roll, put a spoonful of the filling in the middle and wrap it up so it makes a ball. Then bake about 12 minutes on 350.

Letters from Freida

A few years ago, my Great-Grandma Manning took the time to write out several of her recipes and compile a cookbook for her grandchildren. As I looked through it today to pick some recipes out, I saw these notes and pictures in the inside cover. I thought they were so special so I want to have them here on my blog. Grandma Manning has always been so good at writing letters to her family so I want to keep them handy.



Ok so those are a little hard to see but at least you can tell they're there. On the "About Me" note, she starts off by saying "I have no talents like music, art, dance, etc. So I've decided my talent must be foods- from growing vegetables in my garden, to canning and storing fruits from my orchard and the veggies." Amen, Grandma! I think all of her descendants would agree with that. Here are some pictures of Grandma working on her talents.

I remember visiting Grandma Manning and picking raspberries- she gave us buckets that were made of washed out ice cream tubs with ropes tied onto them. We threw them around our necks and filled them with berries. (Which she turned into wonderful raspberry jam)

Canning applesauce... Who remembers that kitchen?

Blue ribbons won from the fair

Rye Bread... I'll attempt that soon enough

Birchcreek Cattle Drive Applesauce Cake

I wish I could take a picture of the way this cake smells! It's divine. My family has a ranch in Idaho called Birchcreek. For years now, my Manning relatives have kept cattle there. When my Grandma Joan was young, they would have a cattle drive every year. Applesauce cake was always on the menu, made by my Great-Grandma Frieda. This past June we had a Manning family reunion and this cake was dessert one night. We got to hear all about the cattle drive and other Birchcreek traditions. So fun!

The Recipe:

1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. melted butter or shortening
1 c. raisins (optional- I'm not a fan myself)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. soda in spec of cold water
2 c. flour
1 1/2 c applesauce
1 egg, unbeaten

Bake in "slow oven" in an 8x8 pan**. I greased it with shortening and lightly floured it, just for good measure.

No directions! What the heck is a "slow oven?" And how do I measure soda in a "spec" of cold water? I suppose the good news is there's room for fudging around a little bit, ovens will vary and your "spec" might be my "morsel." I determined "slow" would be 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.

My mom says the only way to eat this is with chocolate frosting on top, so I whipped some of that up (the normal, cocoa, pwd sugar, butter, vanilla) and spread it on top. If you're a health nut, forgo the frosting- but in our family that's not an option!

**I prefer this in a sheet cake form, so if you want to do that, double the recipe and use a jelly-roll pan and you'll be set.